Who’s Lord of Your Sabbath?

Sermon Outline for Providence Baptist Church; February 3, 2019

Who’s Lord of Your Sabbath?

Luke 6:1-11 (Feb. 3, 2019)

The presence of the Pharisees did not necessarily indicate they saw Jesus and the disciples directly, but it did show how closely Jesus was being watched by the Pharisees and other religious leaders.

What do you think the Pharisees thought when Jesus said, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”?

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Withered = paralyzed, atrophied or shriveled

How legalistic would you consider yourself to be?

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Is Jesus the Lord of your Sabbath? __________

Is Jesus the Lord of your anything? __________

What would you say, without any doubt, you have completely surrendered to Christ?

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What evidence in your life would indicate that you have completely surrendered this (these) to Christ?

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Sermon Outline 1/27/2019 for Providence Baptist Church

Who Ya Gonna Call?

Luke 5:1-11 (Jan. 27, 2019)

Many resources will parallel this account with Mt. 4.18-22 which doesn’t really make sense. How many times have you ever called someone Lord (Master, Epistata) the first time you met them?

Peter had obviously met Jesus before. In this account, Jesus was calling him and others into permanent discipleship.

It was a well-known fact that fishermen caught fish in shallow water at night on the Sea of Galilee, not in the daytime in deep water.

So they pulled their boats upon the shore, LEFT EVERYTHING, and followed Him. What are you willing to leave to follow Jesus permanently?

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Are you planning to call/make a disciple for Jesus this year? What do you plan to do about calling him or her?

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Several Are Snowed-In Today

Our friends up north are always amused by the paralysis suffered by their fellow-Americans to the south whenever we have a snow event. We do them a favor, though, by staying in and not crashing our vehicles when the roads are bad–less crashes, lower insurance rates!

Being a minister, I don’t get to hear other sermons live very often. When I do have occasion, usually by attending a conference, I am usually intimidated by the skill and presentation of the highly experienced preachers who are used to preaching in front of thousands of people every time they stand in the pulpit.

If you are a minister, snowed-in today and not able to travel, take this opportunity to watch a sermon online. Listening to other people helps us to realize where we may need to improve our exposition or presentation. People are not bored by the Bible. People are bored by bad sermons. We owe it to our calling to be as skillful as possible at the preaching craft.

If you are a lay person and are snowed-in today, take the opportunity to listen to an online sermon preached by someone other than your pastor. It is not being unfaithful to your church to listen to other preachers. As a matter of fact, sometimes it helps motivate us to hear encouragement from someone besides the one we are used to hearing. The message captures us afresh and we find ourselves in a good place to serve the Lord and to serve others. Blessings to everyone for a great week!

Because John the Baptist and Jesus Used Interactive Methods of Preaching

As a researcher conducting a study, one of the necessary tasks to complete is justifying the reason for doing the research in the first place. For my seminary research project, I chose to do a study on the effectiveness of interactive preaching. But why preach using an interactive model in the first place? I believe I am justified in saying that John the Baptist and Jesus used interactive models of preaching.

After John the Baptist’s sermon in Luke 3:1-9, the Scripture notes in verse 10, “And the crowds were questioning him, saying, ‘then what shall we do?'” (NASB: 1995 Update) Two specific groups were subsequently listed: tax collectors and soldiers. The people wanted to know how they could apply John’s teaching to their lives.

Likewise, as Jesus was teaching once, “…a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test saying, ‘Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'” (Lk 10. 25). After Jesus responded, the lawyer asked another question, “And who is my neighbor?” (v. 29). What follows in Scripture is the story of the good Samaritan. Jesus used an interactive opportunity to answer someone’s questions, even though the lawyer may have had ulterior motives for asking them. It is likely that the lawyer learned from his questioning whether or not he applied the answers to his life.

I contend that interactive preaching has a place among an effective preacher’s sermons if the minister takes care to set up rules governing the questions that may be asked during a sermon. My rules were simply: 1) questions had to relate to the understanding of the Scripture being considered in the sermon and 2) questions could be asked to clarify how teachings from the Scripture being used in the sermon could be applied to one’s life.

I have found myself wanting to ask questions during sermons, not to disrupt or to put the minister on the spot, but to ask questions within the framework of the rules I use for my own interactive sermons. What do you think about the idea of interactive sermons? Would you like to participate in one sometime? Let me know your thoughts! Thank you for reading and blessings to all for a good rest of the week.

Interactive Preaching

In 2016, I graduated from Luther Rice College and Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry degree. My research project was titled A Study of the Impact of an Interactive Preaching Model on a Small
Congregation in Kentucky. My research was based on the hypothesis that people would find sermons more useful if they were given an opportunity to ask questions during the sermons.

There were two ground rules for asking interactive questions: 1) The questions had to relate to a person’s understanding of the Scripture upon which the sermon was based, or 2) the questions had to relate to how a person could better understand how to apply the Scripture to their lives. The purpose for the interaction was NOT to facilitate Sunday-School class type discussions or to argue different viewpoints of Scripture.

It is my belief that most followers of Christ want to become more like Him. They either don’t understand how well equipped they are or they don’t understand how to access the resources that God supplied us with when we were saved in order that we may reflect Christ’s image in our own lives.

Over the next couple of months, I am going to be finishing a book which describes the purpose of and how to better access the Fruit of the Spirit that exists in every believer of Jesus. I hope you will keep an eye out for questions and discussions that I post on this site so that you may help me understand others’ perceptions and feelings regarding both interactive preaching and the Fruit of the Spirit. Everyone have a blessed weekend and happy Lord’s Day!

When Love Is Not Love

Galatians 5:22 points us to the fact that agape love is a component of the Fruit of the Spirt. If one wishes to understand how agape love is manifest, 1 Cor 13 is an excellent reference:

1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NIV)

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I cited the NIV for this reference because of the poignant use of the word “always” lacking in other translations. The word “bears” used in the NASB, KJV and ESV might be translated as “covers”, the meaning of which is more evident to most readers in the NIV’s usage of “protects.”

Love always protects. True love never has “self” as the focus, but always others. There may be those for whom you would die without reservation trying to protect. I have those precious few in my life as well. The love that projects from the Fruit of the Spirit always desires to protect. If not, then it isn’t godly love.

Love always trusts. Loving others requires commitment, sacrifice and the willingness to lay aside suspicions and doubt. These verses are not only speaking of intimate love between couples, but of followers’ love for other believers. Think of how much more trust must be involved between those who are married if trust is always required to show agape love. Does this mean that God trusts us? That’s the only logical conclusion.

Love always hopes. True love always looks toward the positive growth that will occur in a loving, godly environment. Some are dreading the negative to the point that depression and hopelessness have filled every moment of their lives. Life without love is hopeless. Hopelessness does not foster love. Love must involve two people and the Spirit of God. Love cannot exist between two people as disjoint from God.

Love always perseveres. This passage is proof that one cannot “fall out of love.” Real love always lasts. Real love is as determined as life itself. If you’ve ever witnessed the struggle of something trying to cling to life, you know of what I write. The termination of physical life requires something catastrophic on the scale of the victim. Forces which are sufficient to kill insects are usually not adequate to kill a person. It takes a lot of force to instantly kill a living being. Or, it takes a sustained force over a period of time. Love is greater than life itself. It will persevere from our physical realm into our eternity.

Whatever emotions terminate in this world that we mistake for love are usually self-serving, jealous or envious. If the emotion ends, it wasn’t love to begin with. One of a couple may say, “We just grew apart.” No. They didn’t grow apart. They were never growing together to begin with. Whatever existed between the couple that bonded them together was a toxic emotion waiting to engulf their hearts and souls, a product of the devil himself.

1 Corinthians 13 is a powerful chapter with regard to the characteristics and requirements of love. I challenge you to read it several times and attempt to fully digest the meaning of this word that we sometimes use too casually.

Planning for a good 2019.

The final Lord’s Day of the year is coming up day after tomorrow. I hope you are planning to worship God with others somewhere this weekend. Don’t try to find a church where everyone else is like you. Try to find a church where you will fill a need because they don’t have anyone else like you!

Next year, 2019, is going to be a good one. How do I know that? Because I have planned for it to be a good year. I’m not going against biblical advice and bragging about my plans without acknowledging the Lord’s input. Nor do I dismiss that He may intervene at any time and alter his will for my life. These are things which I have prayed about, acquired the proper tools for their implementation, and have a detailed plan going forward for each.

First, I am going to be organized. My schedule is becoming formidable to only keep in mind rather than have written down with corresponding activities and measurable outcomes. I’m going to start off using a weekly format which I foresee being sufficient for my needs. I may have to make adjustments later.

Second, I am going to stay in good physical shape. One of my seminary professors aptly told a class of preaching students that our usefulness will be limited if we are dead. His rightful thinking was that, statistically, Baptist preachers tend to be on the weightier side of the scale. Combining too much heft with stress and inactivity is a recipe for a massive heart attack, which I am not interested in having.

Thirdly, I am going to organize my studying and research on the subject of Fruit of the Spirit into book form. One of my major propositions is a little different from what others have written. But I believe that I have sufficient biblical data to make its claim tenable. I hope that once it is published some of you will take the opportunity to read it. I’ll be chronicling the progress here at times and I also will answer questions anyone may have about the content.

Well, 2018 is nearly history. Let’s finish strong. Go to worship this weekend and have a plan for when you wake up next Tuesday morning beyond how to conquer a hangover from New Year’s Eve. Blessings to all of you and thank you for visiting the Orange Office.

New Year’s Resolutions Time Again!

Have you started thinking about your New Year’s Resolution yet? Don’t tell me that you had a resolution in the past to not make any more! That’s a lazy cop-out. Everybody needs a restart every so often and this is a good opportunity. If you aren’t being evaluated periodically by someone to help you set goals for improvement, then you need to get motivated to do some self-evaluation and set your own goals.

It may be better not to wait until December 31st to make your resolution for next year. One of the ways to ensure success with your resolution is to have a plan going into it. I’ll be honest, I haven’t set mine in stone yet, but I can tell you that one is going to have to do with fitness and the other is related to organization.

I’m a new retiree from public teaching. I minister at Providence Baptist Church in Adair County, Kentucky. My congregation is small. But, in order to do my best work, I can see improvements that need to be made in my organization. So I’m not going to wait until January 1st to start implementing change. I’ve already assembled some tools and ideas to help me get started so that when the first day of the year rolls around I’ll be ready to fully implement changes in my organization.

As far as fitness goes, I haven’t developed a full regimen yet. But I have started working on cardio at the elliptical and lateral trainers. I’ve also been doing some light resistance training. I can already feel a difference in my fitness. So, when the first day of 2019 is upon me, I will be able to put in a solid day of training on my new program. A lot of people wait until Jan. 1 to get started. Then they find that they are miserable because of their eating habits over the holidays, so they quit training or working out two or three weeks into the year.

The same can be said for kicking a habit. Don’t plan to quit smoking after the first of the year. Start a program now so that you will be quit January 1, 2019. Then you can experience an entire year of success without feeling days of failure from the beginning. Set your self up to begin with success and you will have a much better chance at continued success.

I’d like to hear your ideas and maybe share some past successes and failures if you would like. Just respond below. Thank you for visiting the orange office! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Self-Control

My dog Gunner never met a nap he didn’t like.

For as long as I have been teaching and preaching about the Fruit of the Spirit, people have told me the two they seem to struggle with the most are patience and self-control. Perhaps it’s not surprising, because both can cover a lot of territory. In terms of self-control, we could be talking about eating, spending, controlling our tempers, time management, exercising, reading our Bibles or even going to church. We may tend to think that each of these activities are disconnected and that our habits with regard to them are independent of each other. But there may be a common thread which could help us end our struggles with success related to our self-control.

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (NASB95)

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.

25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air;

27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

I think the point that Paul is trying to make here is this: If you are going to bother running in the race, why not run to win? But at the same time, Paul also reminds his readers that there can only be one prize-receiver. Does winning always necessitate receiving the prize?

I suppose it would depend upon whom you ask. If you ask the majority of college and professional football coaches this Friday if winning this weekend means that they are going to score the most points, I think an overwhelming number of them would reply in the affirmative. But if you asked a 70-year-old runner if they plan to win the Boston Marathon next year, I would say most would answer that they do not expect that outcome.

What if you asked the 70-year-old runner, “What would be a win for you at the Boston Marathon next year?” We might be surprised by his or her response. Maybe a personal best time. Perhaps to place in the top ten of his or her age category. Winning an earthly race doesn’t always mean taking home the prize.

One way we can help ourselves be better prepared to win is to have goals. We are quickly coming upon the season to make New Year’s resolutions. One of the ways we can be better equipped to serve the Kingdom is being in good shape physically. Another is to become more organized. I’m going to work on my resolution for the New Year over the next couple of days. I’ll meet you back here to discuss mine. You are welcome to discuss yours here, too, in the Orange Office.

Gentleness

I haven’t always been a kind and gentle soul. There may be those who would argue that I’m still not! Eight years of teaching alternative school provided me with insight about the value of gentleness. I’ve also witnessed the value of gentleness when a father was teaching his son or daughter how to hit or catch a ball. I’ve definitely witnessed some bad outcomes when husbands tried to teach their wives how to play golf without implementing copious amounts of gentleness!

One of my favorite verses in Scripture comes from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mt 5.5, ESV, Crossway). The reason I like the verse so much is because it basically says that nice people WILL finish first! Contemporary society teaches us that we have to posture and preen a bit to be noticed or get ahead. I’ve been around many leaders whose effectiveness was diminished by their attitudes and by their putting themselves upon pedestals above their co-workers. I’ve also seen gentle leaders who were quite effective because they never asked people to do anything they wouldn’t do themselves and they led from a position of servant-leadership.

While it is true that some people need a bit more “prodding” than others, being gentle usually results in more satisfactory results than being aggressive. In my opinion, meekness and patience are closely related and often depend on each other. What do you think?